Ashtabula Lake · North Dakota
Overview The Mel Rieman Campground and Recreation Area is a 70-acre facility on the shoreline of Lake Ashtabula in eastern North Dakota. The campground is known for its spectacular sunset views. It is close to the Baldhill Dam and within walking distance of the Mel Rieman day-use area, where visitors can swim, fish and picnic.
Sites at Mel Rieman Rec are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.
| Total sites | 28 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Standard, Tent only, Group, Walk-to / hike-to, Shelter |
| Hookups | Electric hookups at some sites |
| Location | Valley City, ND |
| Book through | Recreation.gov |
| Official listing | Recreation.gov |
Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.
itOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for Mel Rieman Rec around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.
| Eggerts Landing | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| East Ashtabula Crossing | Cancellation alerts available |
| West Ashtabula Crossing | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Mel Rieman Rec; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.